Parks

1. Green
But sadly Hanoi is greatly lacking (as in there are ZERO) in green spaces. Grass or parks to lie down in....
2. These old men sit comfortably as if they had been doing this together most of their lives...

Joma

I'm just sitting here at Joma Bakery and Cafe, it's a really nice environment as it feels like I could be anywhere in the world. Sometimes you need that to then appreciate walking out into the world you live in now. I have an essay that is due on Monday, so I'm sitting her listening to people chatting, and writing about how the way people use English is changed and affected by the technology available to them. I have mostly written about the alphabet and the printing press. Earlier, there were some other EFL teachers at the sofa near my table, and one girl was just talking and talking but not actually saying anything. From what she was saying it seems that she hasn't really seen anything here. Not really opened her eyes. I'm not judging, because I wouldn't want to be, but I do feel that I have learned more in 7 weeks than many of the other people I meet and see who have been here for much longer. It's all drinking, partying, and general lazing, which I just can't buy into. It's not me. We had our first English Club at the Note coffee on Monday night. it went really well, and we had 20 people there! I think they all enjoyed it. We did speed 'friending' with lots of introductions and goodbyes phrasing for them to learn and practise. Everyone seemed quite surprised that we were willing to do it, and were really appreciative. So we will continue that while we are here! As an update: Hugo is working at Language Link, partly at the English centre and partly in a local secondary school which he loves. I am working with a mix between all ages, different classes, and mostly in the evenings. I am enjoying it. We are trying to get into a routine, timetable, but its quite difficult as we are working slightly opposite schedules. We are also quite homesick, it goes up and down. I suppose sometimes in life you have to be so far from home to understand just how much you appreciate it.

We see this man most days, walking around the area. He is very short, always brightly dressed, always wearing a hat, and always looks at peace as he slowly ambles along....

Red River

We went walking today to the river- its so close yet not easy to get to. There are some houses along it, and some makehift houseboats, but its not a particularly attractive place, just very interesting. Somehow being near a natural water body brings you closer to nature, even when its filthy. Somewhere at the source it is pure.... I wonder what the people think of it- as i imagine at one time it would have been beautiful.

The last photo is of a slightly hidden cockfighting pit. There are chairs around the pit, crates of beer, and all the cocks in cages. We saw it empty in the morning, but it looks like it likely gets very busy, so sad.

When we were here last summer, we met a young couple on the boat in Halong Bay. He really wanted to chat with us in English, and mentioned that he had studied in london and that should we ever come back to Vietnam we should get in touch. Somehow we never ended up with his contct details, but we knew that he had just opened a franchise japanese bbq restaurant somewhere in Hanoi. We hve been keeping our eyes open for it, and we passed this place a few times, Hugo with a gut feeling it was probably the place. We finally went there last night and it was the place! Wonderful food, and we asked the servers about the owner. They promptly phoned him and sure enough it was him!

Gangnam primary

Truly bizarre: kids are back in school, and they are obviously having an assembly at the primary school next door. All i can hear is Gangnam style playing, and all the little kids screaming 'heeeeyyyy, sexy lady!!'. Strange :)

Baby

I was walking home from The Note (see picture) when I saw a beautiful little girl with who I imagine was her father or more likely grandfather... I smiled at her and she waved (she couldnt have been more than about 18 months old) and then the man came and put her in my arms. She was so cute and happy. He then waved me off, saying in broken English to take her! I think he was only half joking. I kept saying no and handed her back and then she wanted to come back to me. I justsaid how beautiful she was and said goodbye in vietnamese and waved them goodbye...

Feb 13

We were welcomed for a nice food platter and a drink of vietnamese ale by our landlord. Despite his limited English and our almost non-existent Vietnamese we managed to have some really good conversations. They seem a really lovely family.
'The Note' is open again! We went and had a much appreciated coffee.
Higo has got into the very Asian style 'photoshopping' picture effects :)

1. Notre dame
2. Colour
3. White picket fence
4. Colour
5. Style
6. Nature wins
7. Font

Today

1. Breakfast
2. The stage has already been deconstructed
3. Lone cigarette seller--- burning paper
4. Beautiful door
5.'apple' tree
6. House
7. Google vn page

We went and walked around the lake last night to watch the preparation for the celebrations. It was packed, and kept getting busier, but surprisingly it was very civilised: all families, people of all ages, and no drunk and disorderly behaviour that we could see. The only people walking around with beer in hand were the Westerners, who at one stage happened to be walking behind a line of monks. It was a moment that I wish I could have captured. Here are some images we did capture.
We came home to watch the fireworks from the 7th floor of our block. It was pretty impressive.

New Year's Eve